So we got into a thread that started talking about places and dishes I’ve never heard about - and then we focused a little on noodle dishes. and I love a good noodle dish - hand pulled, ramen, even lo mein. So I thought if anyone had any great places and or specific dishes, I’d love to hear about them!
Some from the earlier thread (sorry if I miss a few)
Ganko Ittetsu (ramen), brookline
Ruckus noodle
Yume Wo Katare (ramen) now open for lunch, Cambridge porter square
Yume Ga Arukara (udon), Cambridge porter square
IQ Kitchen, newton Guizhou style rice noodle soup
Buk Kyung (Korean style Chinese), Somerville and Alston, thick chewy hand pulled noodles - jajangmyun - noodles with pork and black bean paste, jampong - seafood soup with same noodles
Home taste, Watertown thick and thin hand pulled noodles - Xinjiang Spicy Noodles with Sliced Lamb, and cold spicy noodles
There were other dishes mentioned too but focusing on noodle dishes …
A few in the Watertown/Brighton/Newton area, since that’s near my vicinity:
MDM Noodles (Brighton Center)
Cold skin noodle with chewy gluten chunks and vegetable, best one I’ve tried in Boston
Luosi (snail) rice noodle - this spicy pungent noodle soup from Southwest China comes with pickled vegetable, tofu skin, peanuts and supposedly, river snail and pork broth. It’s kind of a recent Chinese fad, and it honestly is quite smelly if you haven’t had it before .
Nice hand pulled thick noodles too.
Shangri-La (Belmont)
Better known for their weekend Taiwanese brunch, but we always get the spicy beef noodle soup or the pork mustard green noodle soup. The noodle is chewy and likely not home made, but soup is always stellar. The mustard green one comes with tons of greens, and is really needed to hold up all the (delicious) buns and meats on the menu.
Dolphin Bay (Allston)
Great Taiwanese beef noodle soup (and a few more soup options as well) although parking is a pain. They let you specify the spice level and more importantly, how much gristle(?) you get with the beef slices. I happen to love the collagen-rich gristly bits, so I always do half lean and half fatty beef. Great bubble tea and kitsch-y decor too if you are into that sort of thing.
Wang’s on Broadway in Somerville has a disch called Sauteed Handmade Noodles which I really like. It’s in the house specialties section of the menu, not the noodle section. They barely taste pulled- I think they might roll and then cut them? Chewy and thick.
I can answer that! (Feeling extra knowledgeable today lol) That is actually wheat flatbread (not as oily or layered as scallion pancakes) cut up into slices and then stir-fried. In Northern China, a lot of the flatbread sellers will cut it up for people to stir fry at home, and I suspect, to get rid of those old bread sitting out for a while.
Speaking of Wang’s, man oh man those fennel dumplings…
I’m pretty sure in my post from which this is quoted that I wrote “handmade,” not hand-pulled which is a big difference. When I was going to Buk Kyung more regularly, they did handmade knife-cut noodles (kalguksu) but not hand-pulled.
thanks for splintering off this thread, Thimes. I looked at splitting it off myself into a new thread, but it was such a mix of replies to individual posts and the original post that it was kind of messy to do that way.
I just ate dinner at Sugidama Soba & Izakaya in Davis Square, who make their own soba in house. I felt like hot soup, so I got the homey Tanuki-- came with fried batter flakes (that seemed mostly like panko) and that processed fish cake that I’ve personally grown to love. The broth had good, deep bonito flavor and the soba had a nice, toothsome bite to them. Not spectacular, but reasonably good and they have lots of other options for soba both cold and hot.
The place is really comfortable and well appointed inside and there are a range of food options from dumplings and takoyaki to donburi bowls and sushi. The food strikes me as maybe not quite pubby enough to be totally izakaya (at least based on my limited izakaya experience) but that’s ok. Service was great and I’d sure go back.
jajangmyun at buk kyung in somerville and allston
dan dan noodles at sichuan gourmet in framingham
lort cha (stir-fried silver pin noodles) at thmor da in revere
mee katang (stir-fried chow foon) at thmor da in revere
stir-fried rice noodles with minced pork at taiwan cafe in chinatown
taiwan-style noodles with pork and vegetables at dumpling cafe in chinatown
singapore street noodles at great taste restaurant in chinatown
paitan ramen at toto ramen in allston
house ramen at sapporo ramen in porter square
pork ramen at yume wo katare in porter square
niku udon at yume ga arukara in porter square
kamo seiro at sudigama in davis square
pork kimchi dip soba at sudigama in davis square
liang pi at MDM noodles in brighton
da pan ji at MDM noodles in brighton
hand pulled noodles with cumin lamb at gene’s chinese flatbread cafe in boston
Luosifen (snail noodle soup) has a rich stock made from river snails and pork bones, but no actual snails in the soup. It’s the specialty of Liuzhou, Guangxi and quite delicious IMHO.
Thanks for clarifying, @Souperman (nice username)! And for the record, I think it’s a delicious thing, but just want to warn people in case the sharp smell upsets anybody. Still find it a funny thing how this soup of all things are now the darling of Chinese food media.
Nice list! This reminded me, the dim sum menu at Great Taste has an item called “Steamed Ribs with Noodle Rolls”. If you like the black bean ribs of Cantonese dim sum but want some chewy noodles to go with it, this is a must get. It’s a full lunch serving, and a bargain at $5.50 or so.
The fried rice noodle rolls at Asian Garden (Chinatown) is also a secret treasure of mine. The chunks of noodle rolls comes fried and crispy on the edges but still chewy on the inside, and is served with peanut butter and soy sauce for dipping. It really is one of those things where the whole is greater than sum of its parts, and totally worth the measly $3 or $4 the last time I had it.
This is on their afternoon tea menu, which they start serving around lunch but sometime doesn’t bring out unless you specifically ask for them. The afternoon tea menu is great value if you want a milk tea with some Hong Kong standards for lunch.
Has anyone tried the Taipei beef noodle soup there? How’s the broth? (I’m a big fan of soup noodles but find that they very often come with lousy broth.)
Reminds me of dear friend yumyum, who was an early supporter of Wang’s. Good to hear that they are still putting out good food after some reports of decline. (Man, it’s been ages since I’ve been over to Magoun Sq.)
Sorry just making some notes - love MDM, though found ordering a little intimidating (just a lot of unfamiliar items but servers have always been helpful).
Is this what is on their menu as shinjiang chicken? (Googling both names suggest it may be).
